Hearing sounds, not words

In a recent experiment conducted by Yale scientists, bird songs, a dog’s bark and snowflakes stuck in the memories of people with schizophrenia, while simple words did not. In other words, verbal memories posed a greater difficulty to people with schizophrenia than did nonverbal memories. This could have a profound effect on cognitive function, said Bruce Wexler, M.D., associate professor of psychiatry and principal investigator on the study published earlier this year in Schizophrenia Research. “The use of internal language mechanisms to enhance cognition,” said Wexler, “is an essential aspect of a wide range of normal human brain functions.”